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Art of the Western World

The High Renaissance (#104)

Part I: Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael displayed extraordinary talent working in a variety of media and elevated the status of the artist in Italian society. Part II: Venetians like Titian, Tintoretto, and Palladio readapted the classical style with a theatrical flourish. [58 minutes]

This episode has not aired in the past few months on Iowa Public Television.

Series Description: Magnificent masterpieces of the Western world are presented in their cultural and historical settings. From the classical tradition to modern art, each artistic movement is interpreted through its major paintings, sculptures, and works of architecture. Comments from internationally known art experts and critics assist in understanding and appreciation of the works. Watch it Onlinehttp://www. learner.org/resources/series1.html

All Episodes

Part I: Traces the origins of humanism and the immortal classical style to Ancient Greece. Part II: The genius of Roman engineering and architecture was used to build an empire, while portrait sculpture exalted its rulers.
[57 minutes]

Part I: With the fall of the Roman empire, Christianity flourished with the Church as patron of monumental Romanesque architecture and sculpture. Part II: The origin of Gothic architecture is found in the choir of the Abbey Church of St. Denis, while the Chartres Cathedral serves as a model of High Gothic style. [58 minutes]

Part I: The rebirth of classical themes and humanistic ideas marked the Renaissance in Italy, as seen in Florentines Brunelleschi, Masaccio, Ghiberti, and Botticelli. Part II: Glowing color, made possible by the new medium of oil paint, and minute detail set the work of the Flemish masters Van Eyck and Grünewald apart from the Florentines. [57 minutes]

Part I: Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael displayed extraordinary talent working in a variety of media and elevated the status of the artist in Italian society. Part II: Venetians like Titian, Tintoretto, and Palladio readapted the classical style with a theatrical flourish. [58 minutes]

Part I: The Church's campaign to counter the Reformation relied on dramatic depictions of religious scenes, such as those of Caravaggio and Bernini. Part II: The royal courts in Spain and the wealthy burghers in the Netherlands commissioned major paintings by Velazquez and Rembrandt and shaped their content. [57 minutes]

Part I: The playful fantasy and provocative subjects of the Rococo style practiced by Watteau, Fragonard, and Boucher gave way to strict Rationalism, which insisted on morality in art and the purity of classical form, as seen in the works of David. Part II: Striving for individual expression, Romantic painters Goya, Gericault, and Delacroix demonstrated a range of styles and subjects.
[58 minutes]

Part I: Courbet and his followers rejected the standard academic themes and techniques, Manet shocked Paris, and Impressionists represented the world bathed in color and changing light. Part II: Post-impressionists Seurat, Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Cézanne broke new ground with daring and imaginative use of color and approaches to form. [57 minutes]

Part I: With modernity came new energy and forms in Viennese building and painting. Paris saw the emergence of the Fauves, and of Picasso and Cubism. Kandinsky and others experimented with color abstraction. Part II: Modernism spawned not only Cubism, but also the abstract and the surreal. Le Corbusier and Wright applied the abstract principles to buildings. Dada responded to the devastation of WWI with nihilism; surrealists Dali, Magritte, and Miró showed Freudian influence. [58 minutes]

Part I: The Abstract Expressionist movement established New York as a center for the visual arts. Works by Pollock, Warhol, Lichtenstein, and the sculptor Oldenburg are examined. Part II: With many of the rules tested and discarded, the art world has become international. Art is now accessible to everyone to create and appreciate. Host Michael Wood examines implications for the future. [58 minutes]